Gods in the Global Village: The World's Religions in Sociological Perspective (Sociology for a New Century Series) / Edition 2

by Lester R. Kurtz

Overview

In an era plagued by religious conflict, the Second Edition of Gods in the Global Village directly responds to issues of social problems prevalent in the world today. Using an engaging, though-provoking style, author Lester R. Kurtz focuses on the relationship among the major faith traditions that inform the thinking and ethical standards of most people in the emerging global social order.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781412927154
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	07/28/2006
Series:	Sociology for a New Century Series
Edition description:	Older Edition
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Lester R. Kurtz is Professor of Public Sociology at George Masonthe University of Texas at Austin, where he teaches the comparative sociology of religion, peace and conflict, social movements, globalization, and both Western and non-Western social theory. He lectures regularly at the European Peaee University and was previously Director of Religious Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. and He holds a master’s in Religion from Yale Divinity School and a Ph D in Sociology from the University of Chicago. He is editor of the three-volume Encyclopedia of Violence, Peace, & Conflict (Elsevier), coeditor of Nonviolent Social Movements: A Geographical Perspective (Blackwell), and coeditor of The Web of Violence: From Interpersonal to Global (University of Illinois Press). He is the author of numerous books and articles on religion and conflict peace, including The Nuclear Cage: A Sociology of the Arms Race (Prentice Hall) and The Politics of Heresy: The Modernist Crisis in Roman Catholicism (University of California Press), which received the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion’s Distinguished Book Award. He is currently working on books titled Gandhi’s Paradox and Gods and Bombs, as well as a documentary film, Peaceful Warriors: The History of Nonviolence, with James Otis.

Dr. Kurtz is the past Chair of the Peace and Justice Studies Association as well as the Peace, War, and Social Conflict Section of the American Sociological Association, which awarded him its Robin Williams Distinguished Career Award in 2005. He has lectured in Europe, Asia, Africa, and North America and has taught at the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, Delhi University in India, and Tunghai University in Taiwan.

Table of Contents

About the Author Foreword Preface Acknowledgments
1 Religious Life in the Global Village Religion and the Globalization of Social Life Religion and the Sociological Tradition Major Themes in the Sociology of Religion
2 A Sociological Tour: Turning East Types of Religious Traditions Hinduism Buddhism Confucianism, Taoism, and Shintoism Indigenous Religions
3 The Tour: Judaism, Christianity and Islam Judaism Christianity Islam The Social Construction of Religious Traditions
4 The Religious Ethos Constructing a Religious Ethos Religion and Identity Construction Religion and Everyday Life Religion and Stratification Religious Taboo Lines and Ethical Systems Religion and Politics The Ethos and the Global Village
5 Modernism and Multiculturalism From Local to Cosmopolitan The Challenge of Modernism Historical Outcomes of the Modernist Crisis The Modernist Crisis and the Twenty-First Century Cultural Wars and Protest Theologies Revitalizing the Ancient Traditions
6 Religious Movements for a New Century Civil Religion and Nationalism Religious Syncretism and Alternative Religious Movements New Forms of Religiosity Women’s Movements Environmental Movements Constructing and Reconstructing Religious Life
7 Religion and Social Conflict A Theory of Religious Conflict Religion and the Problem of Violence Religious Contributions to Nonviolence Islam and Nonviolence Chaos or Community?
Notes References Glossary/Index